Iris van Herpen is celebrated for her ability to create a new kind of beauty—and a novel way of working—combining traditional sartorial practices with the latest technologies, both of which help her give materiality to the abstract concepts that animate her work. The standout look from Capriole, her Fall 2011 Haute Couture collection, is the Skeleton dress, which is an example of her tendency to use technology to mimic nature. It’s also a personal favorite of hers. “This dress visualizes the inside of the body outside,” Van Herpen told Vogue. “To me it represents freedom and imperfection, and between those two is where beauty can be found.” These days, the dress itself, created in collaboration with architect Isaïe Bloch using 3-D printing, resides at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
A capriole, from which this couture collection takes its name, is a sophisticated leap (generally performed by highly trained horses) and a wonderful metaphor for what Van Herpen is doing. Her work bridges past and future. “I’m trying to forget about time and research materiality or structure,” the designer said at a press event. “It’s the ongoing research of my work. I’m in fashion, but I’m always out with one foot.”
